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dinitrll (States @me entre ANTHONY G. DAVIS AND CHARLES W. BLAKESLEE, OF WATERTOWN ,AN D EBENEZER B. BEECHER, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNITTED STOCKINGS',

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

` Zn all whom it may concer-n:

Be it known that we, ANTHONY G. DAVIS and CHARLES W. BLAKEsLnn, both of Watertown, Oonnec ticut, and Ennnznn- B. B'nEcHnn, of New Haven, in

the same State, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Knitted Stockings and we do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of our invention suf cient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it.

Our improvements consist in a knitted stocking made complete upon a knitting-machine, so as to be not only seamless, but also with a proper swell or bulge for the heel, as hereinafter described; and also in an improved process of knitting upon machinery a fashioned seamless stocking.

Most, if not all, so-called seamless machine-made stockings, when they leave the machine, are incomplete, and require to have a gap or slit, 'or other unclosed. par/@closed up or finished by hand-knitting, crocheting, or otherwise. This gap is sometimes left beneath the foot near the toe, at other times on .the upper side of the foot, and sometimes beneath the heel. Where stockings have been made continuously, beginning at the tip of the toe and .ending at the top of the stocking, they come from the machine with their last row ot' knitting unselvaged, and requiring, in order to prevent their ravelling out, to be finished or selvaged by hand.

The heel of a r'stocking has also been knitted in circular machines having a circular series vof xed needles, by building upon a portion (sayhalf) of the needles a sort of cone or semi-sphere, by first knitting half way around the circle, and then retraciug or reversing the knitting over the same set of needles, (omitting one or more, as desired, at the end of every course,) this reversing aud shortening of the course making a tapering piece, to which is knitted a similar piece, in inverse order, lthat is, by reversing and widening the course, the two pieces so united forming a sort of semi-sphere, which being afterward knitted to a foot or. leg-piece, forms a heel.

We have successfully produced our stocking upon a machine of that class having two parallel rows of needles, and inwhich the thread or yarn-carrier is arranged so that it may' travel around the machine, or around one end and return, as the character of the work may require; as, for instance, in those patented to us, July 14, 1868, No. 79,897, and August 11, 1868, No. 80,853.

In this machine, we can use parallel rows of needles of the Whole length of the series, or use parallel rows at the middle only, (lowering out of action the remain- \der,) or use any other portion of the rows, and still knit tubular work with unbroken courses, notwith standing the thread-carrier may travel some distance from the last needle, on one side, to the first one on the other side, thus enabling usA to knit tubes of any de sired size in the same machine, and, consequently, stockings of any size required.

This much is premised by way of presenting more clearly hereafter the novel mode in which our heel is made, and which is a consequence of the peculiar feature of adding needles to or taking them from the end of the series used in making the uniform tubular part.

We set up our work in the usual way to make a selvage-edge that will not ravel, upon as many of both rows of n'eedles as will make a tube of theproper size for the top of the stocking, (always commencing at the top,) and we always kuit from` the top to the toe in order tol-insure .a finished selvage, as aforesaid, at the top, for if We should commence at the toe, the last course of knitting, when taken from the machine, would 'require all its loops to be taken up.

Supposing the number of needles in each row of the A machine to be seventy-five, andl that one hundred stitches are needed ,to form the first course set up for a stocking, then we dropout ofthe action of the needle-operating cam a number of the needles at both ends of each row, suicient to leave at the middle portion of each row fifty needles to commence with, the needles so thrown out of action being held as a reserve, to be called. into use whenever ahy widening is required, and not otherwise. l

The work-being set up, as above, upon the one hundred needles, rthe machine is set in operation, and a tube is knitted continuously of uniform diameter, or with a swellfor the calf, if preferred, until it is desired to narrow below the calf. To eiect this,'a needle or two at one end only of the rows is thrown out. of action, by sliding it down its groove beneath the action of the cam, and the loops of such retired needles being transferred to the next adjacent operative needle, the knitting proceeds as before. Other needles are then similarly retired, and their loops similarly transferred, until the narrowing has been carried to the extent desired, this narrowing, it will be observed, being thus far always made only t one side of thev machine, and at that part only which forms the back of the stockmg. Y

The knitting now proceeds regularly on this reduced number of needles, producing uniform tubular goods of reduced size or diameter, until it is necessary to commence the formation of the heel. This part of the process is very peculiar, as will. be seen on reference to the drawing accompanying this specification, in which it will be observed, by tracing lengthwise the lines of stitches, that the heel-portion embraced within the part bounded by lines drawn from 1 to 4, 4 to 3, and 3 to 1, is built directly upon and outside of the outer one of said lines of stitches, and that such portion is composed of a series of independent rows, each successively shorter than its preceding one, until a sudicient swell or bulge has been fabricated. This is accomplished as follows: I 4

To commence the widening, the needles heretofore retired at the right-hand side of the machine, are, one' after another, brought again into action, (the circuit of travel of the yarn-carrier being always such as to deliver to any such needles waiting to receive it,) las .slowly or as rapidly as may be desired, to give any required protuberance for ther heel, but the machine, at this part of the knitting, is not revolved continuously in the saine direction, but is turned only about half way around, more or less, first in one direction and then in the other, taking up, as above stated,

more needles at the right, and dropping as rapidly as may be desired numbers of needles at the left, thus forming a peculiar gore-like addition, A, to the tube, but differing from a gore in this, that a part of it is Ibuilt out and projects beyond where any gore proper could be placed, that is, beyond the line of a fabric in 4of needles, until the toe is gradually tapered to its tip.

1t will be seen, from the above description, that a single yarn may compose the whole stocking, from top should be attempted to unravel the stocking, it could be done complete, selvage and all, from end to end, without break, a fact which, it is believed, cannot be asserted of any machine-made selvage-topped -stocking ever before made. Y

It will also be seen that (except at one part of the toe) all the widening and narrowing',aud hence the variation from regular, even knitting caused thereby,

is done at the back of the stocking, where it is most required, and does not appear at the front or side as a blemish in the goods.

We claiml. A stocking having aheel. knitted in the manneldescribed.

2. A machine-made seamless stocking, fashioned complete for wear upon the machine, from a continuous yarn, and with a heel made in the manner shown and described. f

3. The process herein described of forming the heel of a stocking. l

4. The process herein described of knitting a stocking4 upon a machine employing two straight rows of needles. v

ANTHONY G. DAVIS. CHARLES YV. BLAKESLEE. EBENEZER B. BEEGHER.

Witnesses:

S. B. Mouais, GARDNER Monsn, C. ,l. Hickox, EMILEY HICKOX. 

